Sears Could Have Been Amazon — The Day It Threw It All Away

In the 1970s, Sears wasn't just a store. It sold you the house, the refrigerator, the insurance, the Craftsman wrench and the Christmas wish book, and it built the tallest building on Earth to prove it. Then, in 1993, the company that brought mail-order shopping to millions of American homes shut down its own catalog, one year before Amazon was founded. From a crate of pocket watches in 1886 to the Kenmore washers, the DieHard batteries and the last empty stores, this is the story of how Sears built the American middle class and then threw it all away. What did you circle in the Sears Wish Book as a kid? Tell us in the comments. Chapters: 0:00 Intro 1:33 A Crate of Watches 3:56 A House in a Box 5:20 The Golden Age 6:43 The Wish Book 7:14 The Tower 9:09 The Rivals 10:07 1993 11:48 2005